Garbage disposal system



5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 12, 1967 INVENTOR."

GIANNI SIRACUSA ATTORNEYS Oct. 21, 1969 s. SIRACUSA GARBAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 12, 1967 INVENTOR. GIANNI SIRACUSA ATT QRNEYS Oct. 21, 1969 s cus I 3,473,494

GARBAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM Filed on. 12, 1967 .5 Sheets-Sheet 4,

I I I u FIG.7

INVENTOR. GIANNI SIRACUSA BY 41AM ATTOR NEYS Oct. 21, 1969 iled Oct. 12, 1967 In N 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR.

GIANNI SIRACUSA ATTORNEYS United States Patent US. Cl. 110-15 9 Claims ABSTRACT 0F TIE DISCLOSURE An apparatus and method for disposing of garbage and similar refuse which includes separating at least some of the noncombustible material from the refuse and shredding the combustible part thereof, thereby reducing it to pieces of small size to facilitate burning. The reduced refuse is conveyed into an incinerator which has been heated to a predetermined temperature at which the reduced refuse supports combustion. The bottom of the incinerator is provided with a conveyor and the ashes resulting from the burning of the reduced refuse drops into the conveyor housing to be moved to a suitable storage space therefor.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an aparatus and process for disposing of finely divided refuse such as garbage.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my application Ser. No. 515,567 filed Dec. 22, 1965 for Garbage Disposal System, Patent No. 3,357,380.

This invention relates to an apparatus and process for disposing of finely divided refuse such as garbage.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved apparatus and process for the disposal of finely divided refuse such as garbage.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved apparatus and process for disposal of finely divided refuse such as garbage by incineration which proceeds on a continuous basis in a preheated incinerator which is first brought up to predetermined temperature by one or more gas-fired burners and thereafter the incineration process is maintained by burning of the finely divided refuse itself.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved apparatus and process for the disposal of finely divided refuse such as garbage by incineration in an incinerator into which the finely divided refuse is propelled and in which it is agitated by air so that the combustible constituents of the refuse are burned and the noncombustible constituents are allowed to drop into the bottom of the incinerator from which they are removed by a conveyor connected thereto.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved apparatus and process for disposal of finely divided refuse such as garbage by incineration in an incinerator which is provided with wall structure shaped to enhance the draft therethrough by which the gases of combination and suspended ash are moved from the incinerator and into a settler chamber from which they are transported by suction into the first washing tank from which they are moved into a second washing tank and then to the atmosphere.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved apparatus and process for disposal of refuse such as garbage in which both the combustible refuse and noncombustible refuse, such as glass and the like, are reduced to five particles by appropriate apparatus and thereafter the bulk of the noncombustible reduced refuse is separated from the principal part of the combustible refuse so that the principal combustible reduced refuse may be blown into the hot preheated zone of the incinerator in which it sustains combustion, more readily than if it carried the noncombustible, relatively heavy, reduced refuse, and the noncombustible reduced refuse is fed to the incinerator through suitable auxiliary ports so that any combustible refuse adhering thereto is also subjected to incineration.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved apparatus and process for disposal of refuse such as garbage in which the combustible refuse is reduced to fine particles which are fed to a preheated incinerator which has been brought up to a predetermined temperature prior to the feeding of the combustible refuse thereinto, the feeding of the combustible refuse into the incinerator being at a rate to maintain the burning zone of the incinerator at substantially this predetermined temperature by the combustion of the combustible refuse.

Other and further objects of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which it relates from the following specification, claims and drawing.

In accordance with this invention I have provided an improved apparatus and process for the disposal of finely divided refuse such as garbage. The garbage may be initially treated as described in my copending application whereby it is broken up and shredded into fine particles. In this apparatus and process the refuse, after being loosened by suitable agitation, is passed under one or more separating magnets or over suitable magnetic pulleys so that magnetic material, particularly the larger pieces of iron, are removed therefrom. Thereafter the refuse, including the combustible material and glass bottles, is broken up by suitable grinding and shredding to reduce it to fine particles. The reduced refuse is fed to a vibrating screen or foraminous member which is provided with holes on the order of A inch to /2 inch in diameter. The particles of broken glass drop through this screen together with a small portion of the combustible material. Most of the combustible material passes over the top of this screen.

The combustible portion of finely divided refuse is transported from the top of the vibratory screen to a conveyor that is connected to a feed pipe for feeding it into the input of the incinerator, into which it is blown through the pipe by compressed air which may be preheated. The finely divided refuse is blown against a baffle structure which is provided with veins which may be of a spiral configuration to impart a swirling motion to the finely divided garbage. The material falling through the screen, including the ground up glass, is fed to a conveyor located at the side of the incineration which is connected by suitable ducts to the interior of the incinerator through which this material falls into the incinerator so that this portion of the refuse is also subjected to incineration.

The incinerator of this apparatus is first preheated to a relatively high temperature of approximately 2200 F., although, of course, higher or lower temperatures may be employed, depending upon the nature of the garbage, particularly the water content thereof. This preheating of the incinerator brings the heat-resistant lining, which is of fire brick, to this combustion sustaining temperature. The finely divided refuse is then blown into the incinerator by compressed air which separates the refuse particles. Suitable baffle structure may be provided to cause the refuse particles to float and swirl around in the incinerator during burning thereof. Thereafter the gases from the incinerator are passed through a series of water sprays.

Further details of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which it relates from the fol- 3 lowing specification, claims and drawing in which, briefly:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the different stages or steps of treatment of the refuse such as garbage preliminary to the incineration thereof;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the incineration and washing stages of this apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view in side elevation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 66 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a side view partially broken away of the forward part of the incinerator; and

FIG. 8 is a side view partially broken away of the rear part of the incinerator.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are to be combined as shown in the small block diagram below FIG. 8 to illustrate the complete incinerator.

Referring to the drawing in detail, reference numeral 1 designates a conveyor which transports the garbage or other refuse to the beater mechanism 2 in which the compacted refuse is loosened and fed to the conveyor 3 which carries the loosened refuse through the magnetic separator stage 4. Stage 4 is provided with one or more electromagnets of conventional construction which pick up the magnetic refuse and move it to a conveyor so that it is removed from the line of treatment of the refuse. The other refuse, including the combustible portion, and the glass is transported by the conveyor to the grinding and shredding apparatus which includes stages 5, 5a, and 5b. The foregoing apparatus, including the beater, mag netic separator and grinder and shredder are arranged as described in my previous application, of which this is a continuation in part, although in my present application I provide a multiple stage grinder and shredder. The refuse is reduced to fine particles in this multiple stage grinder and shredder and is then moved by conveyor 6 to the vibratory separator which includes the vibrating foraminous member 7. The foraminous member 7 is supported by suitable rollers 7a in a slightly inclined position and it is connected by a member 7b to the eccentric 70 which vibrates the foraminous member back and forth as the finely divided refuse is fed thereto at the upper end. During vibration of the foraminous member 7, the combustible refuse moves thereover downward to the hopper 7e. However, some of the combustible refuse and most of the ground up glass pass through the foraminous member and fall to hopper 7d. Hopper 7e is conected to the pipe 13 whch is provided with a screw conveyor 8. The screw conveyor 8 moves the combustible refuse to the input end of the incinerator shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 7. The refuse dropping into hopper 7d is removed by screw conveyor 9 which is connected to supply this portion of the ground up refuse to the input of the screw conveyor 16 which is located at the side of the incinerator 10.

The end wall 10a of the incinerator is provided with two gas burners 11 and 12 positioned on the sides of the main feed pipe 13 through which finely divided garbage is blown into the incinerator by compressed air supplied through pipe 13a. The incinerator is provided with two screw conveyor housings 14 and 15 which communicate with the inside thereof by a plurality of ducts 14a and 15a, respectively. Some of the fine ash may enter duct 14 at the burner end of the incinerator and be carried thereby to the rear where it and the ground up glass is dropped through holes 14a into the incinerator. The ducts 14 and 15 are provided with screw conveyors 16 and 17, as shown in FIGS, 3 and 4, so that the ashes and other material entering the ducts 14 and 15 from the incinerator through the connecting ducts 14g and 15a,

respectively, do not accumulate therein but are moved by the screw conveyors 16 and 17 to the rear of the incinerator. Conveyor 16 empties the material moved thereby into the rear part 24 of the incinerator where it is incinerated and falls through the bottom holes into duct 15. Conveyor 17 carries the noncombustible incinerated refuse to the settler chamber 18.

The incinerator 10 is provided with an outer shell 19 of metal such as steel, stainless steel, or the like, and an inner lining 20 of fire brick or other heat resisting material which is adapted to be heated to a temperature of approximately 2200 F. by the gas burners 11 and 12 before the finely divided and shredded refuse, such as garbage, is blown into the incinerator through the inlet 13. The lining 20 should be thick enough so that it will decrease the tendency of heat being passed therethrough to the outer shell 19, and also so that it will retain sufficient heat after being raised to the combustion temperature, whereby the burning of the refuse will continue. after the burners are turned off, in a contniuous process as long as the finely divided refuse is fed to the incinerator at a predetermined rate.

The finely divided garbage or other refuse is supplied to the feed pipe 13 by a suitable conveyor which may be a screw-type conveyor (not shown) and this finely divided garbage or other refuse is carried by compressed air supplied through pipe 13a so that the finely divided refuse is blown against the apex end of the conical deflector 22 which is supported on the inner end of the feed pipe 13 by a plurality of arms 21. One or more compressed air pipes such as pipe 13a are connected to pipe 13 at the front of the incinerator to moved the refuse from the end of the conveyor in pipe 13 into the burning zone of the incinerator. The outside of the conical deflecfor 22 is provided with veins 23 which are slightly curved, as shown, so that the finely divided refuse passing along the outside of the deflector 22 is given a somewhat spiraling motion as it leaves this deflector. Thus, the finely divided refuse is swirled into the hot incinerator to facilitate the burning thereof. At the same time, the broken up noncombustible material such as glass that may be adhering to the combustible material drops out of the finely divided refuse and enters one or more of the short ducts 15a through which it passes to the pipe 15 and is moved by the screw conveyor 17 to the rear of the incinerator and into the settler chamber 18. Some of the fine ash enters the short ducts 14a into the pipe 14 and is carried to the rear by the screw conveyor 16. The conveyor pipes 14 may be positioned on both sides of the incinerator or only on one side, as desired.

About two-thirds of the way in the incinerator at 20a the opening through the incinerator liner is constricted to increase the velocity of the atmosphere in the incinerator at the inlet to the smaller incinerator chamber 24. The outlet of chamber 24 is connected to pipes 25 which pass through the heat exchanging chamber 26. Chamber 26 is in the form of a steam boiler which may be of conventional construction. The water in the boiler is heated to produce steam from the pipes 25 through which the hot gases pass from the incinerator to settler 18. The steam may of course be used as is well known for heating or power purposes. Settler 18 is provided with a manifold 27 positioned on the outside thereof and a plurality of nozzles 28 are positioned in holes formed in the walls or the settler 18 so that water may be sprayed into the inside of the settler through these nozzles. Water under suitable pressure is supplied to the manifold 27 through the pipe 29 which is connected to the pump 30 driven by motor 31. Thus, the gases and some of the fine ash from the incinerator are subjected to a preliminary washing in the settler 18.

A pipe 32 is connected to the top of this settler 18 and through this pipe the gases from the settler are transmitted to the washing tank 33. The outlet of tank 33 is connected by pipe 34 to the inlet of another tank 35. Both of the tanks 33 and 35 are draped with water pipes 36 which are connected to pump 37 driven by motor 38 so that water under pressure is supplied to these pipes. Suitable holes are provided in the walls of tanks 33 and 35 and nozzle-supporting pipes 39 are positioned in these holes so that water spray may be provided to the insides of these tanks. Each of the nozzle-supplying pipes may be provided with a suitable valve which is adapted to be controlled from the outside of the tank so that different ones of the nozzles may be turned either on or off, as may be desired, during the operation or servicing of this apparatus.

Duct 34 is also provided with a water spray therein. This spray is supplied from suitable nozzles supported in the duct 34 by the water feed pipes 40 which are positioned in holes formed in the wall of the duct and which support suitable nozzles on the inside. The forward part of the duct 34 functions as a housing for a fan which draws the gases out of tank 33 and blows these gases into tank 35.

Tanks 33 and 35 are provided with baffles in the insides thereof attached to the upper parts of the tank walls so that these bafiies extend down about midway in the tanks. The tanks 33 and 35 are approximately half filled with water. As the gases circulate in the tanks 33 and 35 between the baffles which are arranged so that the paths therethrough are of a serpentine nature, the gases are exposed to the water sprays and are also driven by these sprays into contact with the water in the tanks.

The bottom of each tank 33 and 35 is provided with a suitable duct which is provided with holes which open into the insides of the tank. Thus, all solid matter washed out of the gases is accumulated in this duct and is carried therefrom by the screw conveyor positioned therein, as shown in FIG. 4. Screw conveyor 42 of tank 35 is connected to the screw conveyor 44 by suitable universal coupling. Conveyor 44 is positioned in the duct 43 which leads to the upper part of the settler 18. Thus, the fine noncombustible material washed out of the gases in tank 35 is moved to the upper part of the settler 18 by conveyor 44 through duct 43. A similar conveyor apparatus is provided to tank 33 which also moves the noncombustible material precipitated in this tank and drops it into the top of settler 18. The bottom of settler 18 is provided with inclined walls so that the noncombustible material moves down these inclined walls to the conveyor 18a, which is also of the screw type, and this conveyor moves this material out of one side of the settler.

The washed gas is transmitted through pipe 45 which is connected to the outlet of tank 35 and which exhausts the washed gas to the atmosphere through the stack 46.

In practicing this invention I have found that, in disposing of refuse such as garbage and the like, it is first necessary to agitate the refuse to loosen and break up the parts that are compacted so that iron objects which are magnetic may be more easily and readily separated from the refuse when it is passed through the magnetic separator. The refuse which then includes the combustible material and noncombustible material such as glass bottles and the like is then passed through one or more stages of hammering and shredding apparatus in which the refuse is reduced to small particle sizes.

The refuse is then conveyed to a separator which separates the principal amount of combustible refuse from the reduced noncombustible refuse so that thereafter the combustible refuse may be readily blown with an air stream into the hot preheated forward zone of the incinerator without being loaded down with the relatively heavy noncombustible refuse made up of the reduced glass and the like. The reduced noncombustible refuse and any combustible refuse adhering thereto is conveyed to a zone of the incinerator beyond the forward zone and deposited into it through suitable ports so that the combustible part thereof is also burned. The glass slag and other ash falls to the bottom of the incinerator and its carried off by a conveyor.

The combustible refuse is fed to the incinerator at a predetermined rate such that its combustion will maintain the temperature in the incinerator at that to which it was preheated. For this purpose the speed of the conveyor moving the combustible refuse to the incinerator may be varied by conventional means so that the temperature in the incinerator, as indicated by conventional indicating means, is kept at or near the predetermined value. For this purpose only refuse made up principally of combustible-particles is blown into the forward zone of the incinerator and the reduced noncombustible material is introduced in a zone beyond the forward zone only for the purpose of burning therefrom any combustible refuse adhering thereto. Thus, the effect of the noncombustible refuse on the temperature of the incinerator is minimized.

While I have shown a preferred embodiment of this invention, it will be understood that the invention is capable of variation and modification from the form shown so that the scope should be limited only by the proper scope of the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:

1. In a method for disposing of refuse such as garbage and the like, comprising the steps of agitating the refuse to break up that which is compacted, separating at least some of the noncombustible material from the refuse, grinding and shredding the refuse to be incinerated to reduce it to small particles, separating the major portion of the noncombustible refuse comprising glass, which has also been reduced to small particles, from the major part of the combustible refuse, conveying the refuse comprising substantially all of the combustible material to an incinerator, firing said incinerator with auxiliary heating means to bring the interior of the incinerator up to a predetermined temperature at which the shredded refuse supports combustion, feeding the reduced combustible refuse to the fired incinerator to support combustion therein, turning off the auxiliary heating means, removing the ashes resulting from the incineration of said refuse from the incinerator and washing the smoke and fine ash efiiuent from the incinerator to remove the fine ash and soluble gas therefrom.

2. In a method for disposing of refuse such as garbage and the like, as set forth in claim 1, further characterized in that the reduced noncombustible refuse and any combustible refuse adhering thereto is fed to the incinerator at a zone thereof beyond the zone in which the combustible refuse is fed so that the noncombustible material falls through the hot incinerator and any combustible refuse adhering thereto is burned off.

3. In apparatus for disposing of refuse such as garbage and the like, the combination comprising means separating at least some of the noncombustible objects from the refuse, means shredding the combustible part of the refuse and reducing it to pieces of small size to facilitate burning thereof, an incinerator having burner means for heating the interior thereof, said incinerator comprising wall structure of noncombustible heat-retaining material which is heated to a predetermined temperature at which the reduced combustible refuse supports combustion, means in the wall strnucture of said incinerator feeding said reduced refuse into said incinerator so that said reduced refuse floats into the burning zone of said incinerator and is consumed by the heat radiated from said heated wall structure, a main conveyor at the bottom of said incinerator, said conveyor being positioned in a housing which is connected to the inside of said incinerator through holes so that ashes resulting from the burning of said reduced refuse drop into said housing through said holes.

4. In apparatus for disposing of refuse such as garbage and the like, the combination as set forth in claim 3 further comprising an auxiliary conveyor positioned in an auxiliary housing attached to a side of said incinerator, holes through the wall of said incinerator connecting the inside of said auxiliary housing to the interior of said incinerator, means feeding the noncombustible reduced refuse and the part of said combustible reduced refuse adhering thereto to said auxiliary conveyor, means driving said auxiliary conveyor so that noncombustible refuse is dumped into said incinerator through one or more of said last mentioned holes spaced well above the bottom of the incinerator so that the combustible refuse is burned off of said noncombustible refuse as the refuse falls through the incinerator into holes leading to said main conveyor so that the incinerated refuse is removed by said main conveyor.

5. In apparatus for disposing of refuse such as garbage and the like, as set forth in claim 4, further characterized in that said incinerator is of elongated configuration with the combustible reduced refuse being fed into it at one end and with the gases resulting from the incineration being fed out at the rear end, said incinerator having a short constricted zone intermediate the ends thereof and between the preheated forward zone and the rear zone, said constricted zone increasing the velocity of gases through the rear zone.

6. In apparatus for disposing of refuse such as garbage and the like, the combination as set forth in claim 5, further comprising a water boiler connected to the rear zone of said incinerator, said boiler having a flue header with a plurality of lines opening into said rear zone of said incinerator for receiving the hot gases from the incinerator, said flues passing through the water chamber of said boiler for heating the water therein.

7. In apparatus for disposing of refuse such as garbage and the like, the combination as set forth in claim 5, further characterized in that said main conveyor comprises a screw conveyor extending along the bottom of said incinerator, said main conveyor emptying into a settler tank and means supplying water to the end of said main conveyor housing near the forward end of said incinerator for facilitating movement of ashes by said main conveyor to said settler tank.

8. In apparatus for disposing of refuse such as garbage and the like, the combination as set forth in claim 6, further comprising a Washing tank, means feeding the gases of combustion from said incinerator and the fine ash carried thereby to said washing tank, said tank having a plurality of independently controlled fluid nozzles positioned on the surface thereof and passing water sprays into the interior of the tank for washing the combustion gases and ashes passing into said tank, a screw conveyor positioned in the bottom of said tank and extending substantially over the length thereof for receiving the ashes precipitated in said tank, and conveyor means connected to said last mentioned screw conveyor feeding the ashes into said settler tank.

9. In apparatus for disposing of refuse such as garbage and the like, the combination as set forth in claim 3, further characterized in that said means feeding the reduced refuse into said incinerator comprises a pipe opening into the burning zone of said incinerator, a screw conveyor feeding the reduced combustible refuse into said pipe and means supplying compressed air to said pipe for blowing said reduced combustible refuse into said incinerator, a baflle supported in said incinerator adjacent to the outlet end of said pipe so that said reduced refuse is blown by said air against said baffie, said batfie having means deflecting said refuse and imparting swirling motion thereto for spreading said reduced refuse in the hot burning zone of said incinerator.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,045,115 6/1936 Allen et a1. l5 2,171,535 9/1939 Berg et a1.

2,971,480 2/1961 Sage.

3,050,202 8/1962 Funk 110-7 KENNETH W. SPRAGUE, Primary Examiner 

